


The Rise of a Maiden (working title)

by beeeeeeaaaaaans



Series: Reverse RWBY AU [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Found Family, Gen, I fell in love with @Bastart13's reverse rwby au over quarantine and had to write some fic for it, RWBY au, Volume 1 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29394144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beeeeeeaaaaaans/pseuds/beeeeeeaaaaaans
Summary: Cinder Fall always believed she was destined for misery. But when she meets the headmistress at Beacon Academy, Professor Salem, she discovers there's more to the world and to herself than she could ever have imagined.A reverse RWBY AU based on @bastart13's art on Tumblr!
Relationships: Cinder Fall & Hazel Rainart, Cinder Fall & Salem, Eventual Tyrian Callows/Hazel Rainart, Eventual Tyrian Callows/Hazel Rainart/Arthur Watts
Series: Reverse RWBY AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2159250
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	The Rise of a Maiden (working title)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Reverse RWBY AU](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/760203) by Bastart13 @tumblr. 



“Kid, do you have any idea the kind of danger you put yourself and, more importantly, innocent _bystanders_ in?”

Of all the things Cinder Fall had planned for the night, defending a dust shop from a master criminal and being reprimanded by a burly man who she was sure had to be either a mob boss or a disgruntled father definitely weren’t on the list. She just hoped she hadn’t been gone long enough for Hazel to have started worrying about her.

She locked eyes with the clearly frustrated man in front of her, determined to stand her ground. Despite his angry gaze and intimidating stature, only further emphasized by his towering over her from where she sat, she could tell his words didn’t pose any sort of actual threat. And she was absolutely _not_ going to allow him to think she was the least bit afraid of him.

“Look, _sir_ ,” she began to respond, forcing her voice to sound calm and collected. “I was not the one to start the altercation, for one thing, and with no one but the shopkeep nearby at the time, I saw no reason to not take action and beat- that is to say, help out with the situation.”

She then shot him the sweetest smile she could muster, eager to leave the office he had dumped her in as soon as possible.

“What you did was impulsive and irresponsible. I already had men at the scene who were perfectly capable of handling the ‘ _situation_ ’ on their own!”

‘ _Mob boss then, got it_ ’ Cinder mentally concluded as she continued to stare the man down. She planned on letting him finish his little tirade and hitting him immediately after with another firm retort.

But to her surprise, he simply sighed, and gave her a resigned look. “But none of that really matters right now. There’s someone here who wants to meet you.”

At that, a tall and elegant figure emerged from the office’s entrance, greeting Cinder with a graceful nod of her head. Her hair, which was intricately braided and styled into a large bun with four offshoots wrapped together, was a stark white, and her skin a sepia, reddish-brown.

For a brief moment her violet eyes silently observed Cinder, briming with the delight one feels when at long last discovering a precious object thought to have been lost to the uncaring grasp of Time.

“It is truly wonderful to finally find you, dear Cinder. You made quite a show of your abilities tonight.”

Upon hearing the woman’s words, Cinder started to panic internally. Sure, she might have gone a bit overboard when trying to take down Nora Valkyrie’s airship, but she had been careful not to make her semblance powers too obvious... or at least, she had thought as much at the time.

The mysterious woman seemed to have perceived her discomfort, because she moved to give one of Cinder’s hands a gentle caress.

“Please, there’s no need for distress. You were given an amazing gift, Cinder, and with it, an incredible responsibility.”

Cinder eyed her suspiciously, quickly snatching her hand away from the woman’s touch. This made her chuckle.

“I’m sorry... _ma’am_ , but I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re referring to. I was just using my semblance, and it happens to be a bit more... let’s say ‘peculiar’ than others.” In a softer voice, then: “It’s more of a hindrance than a gift, sometimes.”

The woman glanced at her knowingly. “I’ve seen my fair share of semblances. And I can say with confidence that your power, despite what you may think, is not semblance nor curse.” She leaned in closer to Cinder’s face with the excited air of someone about to reveal a great secret. “It’s _magic_.”

She readjusted her posture and soaked in the confused expression that now wormed its way onto Cinder’s face. “You have been chosen as a protector of Remnant, Cinder. Our fall maiden.”

“...excuse me?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard of it. The Story of the Seasons.”

“Well yes, but-”

“I know it sounds utterly preposterous, but... what if I were to tell you it was true?”

Cinder paused, now regarding the woman the same way she would a wild Ursa randomly breaking into dance in the middle of battle. ‘ _I have to get out of here.’_

In her most cordial, charismatic tone: “It has been a _lovely_ few minutes, Ms.-”

“Please, call me Salem.”

“... _Professor_ Salem? Headmistress at Beacon Professor Salem?”

The bear of a man, who had moved himself to the righthand corner of the office since Salem’s arrival, let out a small, disbelieving laugh. “ _Now_ she realizes.”

Cinder hesitated, unsure how to proceed with this new information.

“You are special, Cinder. You are one of four in this world who can wield tremendous power without dust: a maiden. And with our help” -she gestured to the man- “you can learn to master your abilities and fulfill your destiny as a defender of the world.”

“My... destiny?”

It was something Cinder pondered from the day she awoke with strange new powers she had no idea how to control. She first thought they meant she was destined for misery: just another reason for the Madame to “train” her as an obedient servant and somehow deprive her of food even more than usual. But with Salem... Salem trained young children to become celebrated Hunters and Huntresses. If she was right, and Cinder’s power could help people like her and Hazel, then...

“How do you know my name?” If she was going to go along with any this, she might as well get _that_ question off her mind first.

“How could I not? You may not realize it, Cinder, but when one travels from village to village slaying Grimm without asking for any sort of payment in return, word tends to get around rather quickly.”

When Cinder’s eyes widened, Salem attempted to sound a bit more reassuring. “Don’t you fret, dear. I just happen to be on top of these things, at least compared to most. If there’s someone you’d prefer not to see again, I’m sure they’re clueless as to where you are at the moment.”

Cinder tried her best to conceal a sigh of relief. To a woman like Salem however, it was hard to ignore.

“...Alright. What’s your offer?”

Salem was absolutely _ecstatic_.

“Well, if you’re willing to take on the responsibility that comes with your powers, we would be thrilled to have you as a student at Beacon. You would have to hide your abilities from your classmates, of course, and at pre-arranged hours of each school week you would be required to attend private sessions with me and my staff to learn how to take full advantage of your magic potential. It’s grueling work, Cinder, but if you’re up to it, you can grow to become a significant adversary to any Grimm that dares lay its claws on mankind.”

“That’s certainly a way of putting it.”

Salem smiled.

Cinder considered this for a moment, at last allowing her gaze to move down to her glass heels. She had lost one in her haste to chase after Valkyrie, and had to haphazardly create another before being whisked away to Salem’s (or least she assumed it was Salem’s) office.

Perhaps it was the right time for a change.

“Okay. I accept. But on one condition...”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Absolutely _not_.”

“But Hazel-”

The boy in question adamantly shook his head, making it clear that the matter was _not_ up for discussion. The clock had just struck midnight, and instead of telling him where she’d been for the past four hours, Cinder was spouting some nonsense about wanting them both to attend Beacon Academy.

“Cinder, I don’t understand where any of this is coming from, but you and I both know that the Huntsman academies are pointless. With every Grimm slayed, more always come to take their place. And we already know how to fight well enough to protect ourselves.”

He must’ve said something wrong then, because he swore he could see flames ignite in Cinder’s amber eyes. “And what about the villages we protected from the Grimm on our way here? Was that all for nothing? Should we have just moved on and left those people to die?”

“We were staying at those villages at the time. We only fought for our own survival, and anyone else we ended up saving was just lucky to have been close by.” His countenance grew worried. “I thought we were on the same page about this.”

“How can you say that? After everything we’ve had to go through, how can you possibly think we can’t make a difference? That we can’t at least _try_ to help out who we can in the present?” She didn’t know why she was getting so angry, but there was something about his attitude that reminded her of people from her past she had grown to despise, and it made her blood boil.

“Cinder, what is this really about? You’ve never mentioned the academies before, and I’ve never seen you so worked up, and...” Hazel, on the other hand, was desperately trying to maintain his composure, to not recall her same determination, to not imagine another loved one sacrificed for a lost cause...

Cinder sighed heavily and plopped down on the floor of their tiny Vale apartment. She was letting her tiredness get the better of her.

“Sorry, Hazel, I didn’t mean to... Look, I met the headmistress at Beacon-”

“What.”

“-and she... she knew about my _powers_. She’s the first person to actually give me some sort of explanation on why I am the way I am, and she even said she can teach me how to use them _properly_. That I’m... special.”

Hazel had taken a step back at the mention of the headmistress, and was now finding it difficult to breathe. “You... you met _Salem_?”

“Hazel, is everything-”

He felt a deep, visceral rage reawaken inside of him. “Please don’t go Cinder. You don’t understand, she can’t be trusted, she tricks people into thinking they can save the world and then-” He forced himself to steady his breathing and relax, but his mind kept wandering back to-

“Gretchen. You’re thinking about Gretchen.” Cinder didn’t know the full story, but she had seen Hazel like this many times before, usually after a particularly bad nightmare about his sister’s passing.

Hazel gave her a slow and reluctant nod, and carefully moved to join her on the floor. He let the back of his head hit the wall they were leaning on as he struggled to let go of the fury that had so quickly enveloped him.

“...Do you want to talk about it?”

He shook his head again, with less purpose than before, and eventually managed to get his breathing under control. He then turned to Cinder with a sad, pained expression on his face.

“Salem... is not what she seems, Cinder. I don’t want to go into detail about why, but... believe me when I say she’s nothing but a heartless liar.”

Cinder took one of his hands in hers and gave it a consoling squeeze. He stared blankly at their intertwined grasp, as if he were adrift in a sea of memories, each one fighting for a chance to bubble back up to the water’s surface.

“I know you don’t trust her, Hazel. I get it. But this... this is different. Ever since I’ve gotten these powers, I’ve always wondered what they could mean, or I guess, what they mean for _me_. And this might be my one chance to finally understand what they are and how to... I don’t know, _protect_ people. To learn how to be the person I needed when I was a kid. And I can’t... I don’t want to pass this up.”

Hazel was silent for a moment. “I didn’t mean what I said.”

Cinder looked at him questioningly.

“About the academies. Grimm _do_ need to be dealt with. I just don’t see why we need to glorify those willing to die in order to stop them.” He squeezed Cinder’s hand in turn. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“Then come _with_ me. Whatever happens, you’ll have my back, and I’ll have yours. We can do this _together_ , Hazel. As a team.”

The fire was still in her eyes, but, rather than fury, it now burned with seemingly indomitable hope. It was a light Hazel didn’t have the willpower to ignore. He had never seen her so passionate about anything before.

There was a pause that seemed to stretch on for eternity. Cinder was relentless in her unofficial staring match against his stubborn protectiveness.

“...Fine. We’ll both go to Beacon. But if this all ends in catastrophe, don’t pretend like I didn’t warn-”

Cinder wasted no time in toppling him over with an overenthusiastic hug. This led to a fit of high-pitched and uncontrollable laughter, as they each tried to playfully tackle the other to the floor.

And when they both calmed down, and decided to lay down on its smooth, cold surface, Cinder thought once more about her destiny.

And for the first time in her life, she felt like it was something she could look forward to.

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooooo  
> I basically fell in love with @bastart13's reverse RWBY AU last March when I was sad and stuck at home (still am, but it's colder now), and I absolutely had to write something for it! I'm thinking of continuing this in the future and maybe just writing this AU's version of the events of the first volume, because it feels like an excuse to both rewrite RWBY and explore characters that the show tends to neglect.
> 
> As usual, comments are greatly appreciated! This is my second ever fic on ao3, so if you feel the need to point out spelling errors or just provide some helpful critique, don't be shy to write whatever!


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